Driving Lessons
by SmileyHalo
Summary: “Not to blow my own trumpet too much, but let’s face it, I’m a genius-” Not quite. It's Rose's turn to pick a destination, and her choice teaches the Doctor some lessons about Rose, driving, and why it is never good to argue with the woman in charge!


A/N: Just a couple of things before we start. This is very AUish, purely because for the sake of the plot premise, the Doctor knows next to nothing about cars and driving. And the car is Jackie's first, because she was a late learner and the only other car she has ever driven originally belonged to Pete. Enjoy!

"We're in a red car? Driving back from Liverpool? I offer you the whole of space and time, the chance to travel anywhere in anything, and you wanted us to go to Liverpool to drive in some tin pot contraption, which, quite frankly, should have been destroyed years ago. I mean, are you even sure the brakes work on this thing?" The Doctor asked, his voice growing increasingly more high-pitched and culminating in a spectacular yelp as Rose slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a young boy on a skateboard as he darted out from the lane in front of them.

"I'm pretty sure," she said breathlessly after peeling herself off the battered dashboard, "either that or the petrol ran out just in time."

"No petrol? Shame, that means we can't go any further! That's typical, just when I was starting to appreciate the finer qualities of travelling human style, the journey has to end," The Doctor responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Very funny Doctor! Sadly for you, it _was_ the brakes working that made us stop. We still have three-quarters of a tank left, and when that's almost gone, I'll be pulling in to the nearest petrol station and filling it up again, because whether you like it or not, this journey isn't ending until we get Betsy back to Mum."

"Betsy?!"

"That was the name of my first car," Rose said defensively, "and since this is Mum's first car, that's what she's gonna be called. Have you got a problem with that?"

"There are so many problems with that that I don't even know where to begin…. I mean, for starters, why does this _thing _have a gender?"

"She's not a _thing _Doctor, she's an individual. There won't be another car out there like her again-"

"-Crashed the others already have you?"

Rose slapped him lightly on the arm before continuing, "And as for why she's a girl, I don't know. It's traditional for all human vehicles, but I'm not sure why."

"Well if all human contraptions are as deadly as this one then I can understand why they made the association," he said dryly, earning another slap from his companion, who glared at him.

"Another comment like that and you'll be walking back to Mum's," Rose warned, not taking her eyes off her passenger as she spoke.

"Look out!" The Doctor yelled, grabbing the wheel and swerving the car out the way of a fast approaching lamppost, "Rassilion save me! Rose, for goodness' sake, you've done a good enough job of ignoring my random ramblings up until this point, why have you picked now, when our very lives are at stake, to start taking offence?"

"Women drivers, it's a very touchy subject, you wouldn't understand," Rose muttered darkly.

"I wouldn't understand? Not to blow my own trumpet too much, but let's face it, I'm a genius-"

"-who thought a car was some kind of bird."

"Now wait a minute Rose, anyone could make that mistake after watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-"

"- yes, I hear that's a common mistake made amongst the under threes."

"Okay, I accept that perhaps I'm not quite a genius- yet. But since you're obviously so much cleverer than me, you wouldn't mind telling me the exact route you intend to take in order to finish this hellish journey back to your mother's," he replied smugly, placing the roadmap in his hands firmly out of sight of Rose as she attempted to steal a surreptitious glance in its direction.

"Fine!" she cried, fold her arms across her chest "you asked for it. Ten hour journey back to Mum's it is then."

"ROSE! WHEEL! I'll give you directions, anything you want just please PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE WHEEL!"

"God help me," she muttered, unfolding her arms and gripping the wheel so tightly that her knuckles shone white. Anything to stop her from throttling him.

"Petrol's running low, I'm gonna pull in at the next service station" Rose said quietly half an hour later, breaking the silence that had descended upon the car.

"Oh goody! I'll have to make sure I stock up on sweets for the sock box, melting chocolate's the one thing missing from this fabulous adventure we're having."

"Glove compartment" she whispered.

"You what?" He asked confusedly.

"It's called a glove compartment, not a sock box," she answered, her voice shaking slightly. Then, quite unexpectedly, she burst in to sobs so violent that the Doctor had to take control of the wheel again.

"I'm just going to pull over in to this lane here on the edge, I hope that's alright," he said uncertainly, more to himself than to her as he manoeuvred Betsy in to the hard shoulder. Breathing a sigh of relief when the vehicle was finally stationary, he then turned to his distraught companion, enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Now what's wrong Rosie," he murmured in her ear, softly stroking her hair as she sobbed in to his shoulder. After five minutes of trying, she finally managed to get out a few sentences that were coherent to them both.

"I just wanted to take you on an adventure," she hiccoughed, "I know it's nothing special, I mean, you've seen thousands of things that I couldn't even imagine, but to me every day I spend with you is special, even if to you it seems like just another day. I just wanted to repay the favour, show you how much it means to me."

The Doctor nodded in understanding, his stomach leaden with guilt.

"I'm sorry Rose, I've been the worst companion ever today. I've ruined everything," he said sadly, looking down at his feet to avoid her watery gaze. She took his hand and squeezed it lightly, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

"Not quite. It's only three in the afternoon, and there's a picnic in the boot. I was gonna wait till we got to the service station, but since we're already parked here, we might as well have it now."

Taking the picnic basket out the boot of the car, Rose and the Doctor scrambled up the bank next to the hard shoulder, breathlessly plonking themselves down at the top.

Watching the cars racing by below him, the Doctor munched thoughtfully on a jam sandwich.

"You know what Rose," he grinned, throwing an arm around her, "this beats anything the TARDIS can offer"

"Anything?"

"Well maybe not the lost temples of Aranosia, or the lakes on Dalaneya, and a few other places…. But it's nice to have you in charge for a change, even if I'm still not sure you understand the point of a steering wheel!"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, all comments, questions and suggestions welcomed, but please don't flame!

SmileyHalo


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